Monday, June 25

Abide and Obey

Narrative Lectionary Daily Devotions written by Kace Leetch from Clergy Stuff.

1 John says this: if we say we know Jesus but do not obey, there is no truth in us. If we obey, then we abide in him.

This is not likely a prescription for success or failure. It is not a condemnation of people who do not obey. Instead, it is a description of what abiding in the Lord looks like. When we walk with Jesus, when we follow Jesus' ways, then obedience is the natural outcome of abiding. We cannot walk with Jesus and continue to live a life of disobedience. The two cannot exist in the same space.

So perhaps it is not a directive to obey so that we abide. It is a description that when we abide, we also obey. Walking with Jesus means walking as Jesus, whether we intend it or not.

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Narrative Lectionary Text: 1 John 2:3-6

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.